School of Hard Knocks
by tjemd
Summary: After a particularly nasty run in with a Megisotherian cub, where Lightning is forced to remove her cape to clear noxious fluid from Hope's eyes, Snow makes the mistake of raising her ire.


A/N: This was a one-shot written for the following prompt: "Snow calls Lightning 'sis' at the wrong moment. What do you _think_ happened next?"

Comments and criticism are welcome!

* * *

**School of Hard Knocks**

Pitiful mewls in the distance aroused Hope from his slumber. Blinking owlishly, he realized the sun was already up, the rest of the party beginning their morning ablutions. Concerned, he called out to his mentor. "Light? What's making that noise?"

Lightning, who had been sitting on a rock polishing her Blazefire Saber, turned to address him. "It's too small to worry about, Hope."

"But it sounds in pain…" The boy trailed off as Light returned to the gunblade. "Well, I'm going to go check it out." He grabbed his Eagletalon and started walking in the sound's direction.

After a moment, the soldier silently decided to follow him to ensure his safety.

The mewling led them around a rocky crag several hundred yards away. As he peered into a bush, Hope saw its source. "It's a puppy, Light!"

"Megisotherian, from the looks of it," she replied. _I wonder where its mother is._ She jumped to the top of the stony hill. _Ah_, she thought, looking into the distance. S_he's fighting another Behemoth King_. They looked fairly evenly matched. Light hopped back to the ground.

"Hope, what are you doing? Put him down immediately."

Hope looked at her with a big grin on his face. "But look, Light, he's so cute!"

"Hope, we don't know where it's been or what skills it has."

Instead of listening to the soldier's advice, Hope started cuddling with the pup and tossing it in the air playfully. "Aww, you're not mean, are you little guy?"

Its already upset stomach jostled around by the bounciness of the silver-haired boy, the pup became increasingly nauseous. Without warning, the dark gray canine spit up a noxious substance – straight onto Hope's face and chest. His screams pierced the air.

* * *

As they returned to the camp, Snow ran out to greet them. "Sis, Hope, breakfast is ready!" he yelled in his booming voice. Nearing them, he continued. "Are you two ok? We heard some animal screeching in that direction."

Hope turned beet red, his cheeks heating to match the color of his irritated corneas. Standing next to the pair now, Snow saw dark stains on Hope's clothing. The boy also looked like he'd been hit with a watera, as drenched as he was. Next to him, Lightning's glare became increasingly frostier, her crossed arms held tighter to her body. The blond didn't notice, his attention still drawn to Hope.

Snow blinked, surprised. "Hey, sis, why's Hope holding your cape? And it's got the same stains-"

"For the thousandth time, I'm _not_ your sister," she snarled. "When will you get that through your thick skull?"

"Si-" The word, possibly the beginning of a question, was interrupted by a thunder-charged punch to his midsection. Caught off-guard, Snow's back hit the grass beneath them. She placed one booted foot on his chest, leaning over him for emphasis.

"You." The word was charged with anger. "You put Hope up to this – you, with your cavalier, happy-go-lucky attitude and nothing-can-go-wrong mentality." Stunned by her vehemence, he stayed silent. "Before Palumpolum, he had good sense, and knew when to avoid danger." Both males winced at this. "But you never learn. Tch."

* * *

Significantly calmer, and more importantly clean (Vanille had Esuna'd Hope's eyes and had whipped some magical concoction to remove the goo completely), Lightning and Hope joined the rest of the party for breakfast.

"Sun-erm…Light?" The strawberry blonde looked to Fang in query. "I know the bloke deserves it and all, but…we are going to get him down before we continue for the day, right?"

Turning to the tree branch at which Fang's gaze was directed, Light saw Snow: hanging by his boot laces, hands bound behind his back with her cape, trench coat falling over his face. Lightning graced the view with a small, contented smirk.


End file.
